REGINA GARCIA CANO, Associated Press

CORSICA, S.D. (AP) — Federal grant money has long been available for doctors, nurses and dentists willing to relocate to rural areas. Now a South Dakota program is offering a similar incentive for lawyers.

It provides an annual subsidy of $12,000 for attorneys who live and practice law in sparsely populated communities. Jake Fischer is the first of up to 16 attorneys accepted into the program, which is funded by the state’s judicial system, bar association and counties.

The 30-year-old left his job at a Minneapolis nonprofit this past spring to move to a new office in Corsica, South Dakota. He’ll be the only full-time attorney in the town of 600 and one of just two in a county of 3,000.

Nebraska and Arkansas are soon launching their own incentive programs for rural lawyers.